I'm getting a guinea pig and was looking at cages and realized, for what they are, they're 1. really expensive and 2. seem very cheaply made. Plus The bottoms seem so low that the pig will be able to kick a lot of crap outside the wires.

Are there any other suggestions of cages or home-made ideas rather than paying $50 for a crappy thing from PetSmart?

4/27/2007 9:49:30 AM

go to walmart, and pick up a big storage rubbermaid container they run about 10 bucks, and you can get the clear ones. I liked to use those for my guys.

4/27/2007 9:53:09 AM

storage containers work so long as you make sure they are airtight and closed up so the little rodents can't get any of their crap outside the box.

4/27/2007 9:58:25 AM

umm, airtight? you want the poor things to die?

no, you can get rubbermaids that are about 11-12" + in height, so there's no way shavings can get out

4/27/2007 10:02:58 AM

The giant tupperwares- are they ventilated enough for the little guys?

4/27/2007 10:03:41 AM

yes, airtight. you can use some silicon bathroom caulk to seal the lid edges. Keeps the smell from leaking out to the house, too.

4/27/2007 10:09:30 AM

you don't put the lid on - or if you do, you cut out the center of the lid, and put chicken wire on the top. Guinea pigs aren't the best climbers, so you'll find it unnecessary to go through the work of making the top suitable for them

4/27/2007 10:29:03 AM

a friend of mine has one (his name is Mr. Billy, and he's a real wild animal... survived a night outside in the bushes)... she keeps him in a storage bin with no lid, bout 8" tall and he doesn't climb out.

4/27/2007 10:54:40 AM

get a hamster instead, they are cuter :-)

4/27/2007 12:53:14 PM

rodents are disgusting.

4/27/2007 12:58:01 PM

we use big plastic containers for rats and mice at work. they work fine. the wire stuff in the bottoms of the pets mart type can hurt a guinea pigs feet (cause sores, etc)

4/27/2007 1:02:25 PM

I have two guinea pigs

I made a pen for them out of the grid, snap together storage cube thingies and reinforced it with cable ties. then made a tray with some stuff that looks like laminated cardboard.

I think I put $25 into making it. I can send you a pic if you like.

4/27/2007 4:28:40 PM

yeah! That'd really help! So far I got my 2 new babies in a HUGE clear tupperware (24x17x12). It'll be good while they're so little.

4/28/2007 11:11:55 AM

when my mom first got her guinea pig, it was so little that it fit through the bars of the store-bought cage. i'm not really sure what my mom did to fix it, but just make sure the holes aren't too big for them to slip out.

4/28/2007 12:31:24 PM

will they live in hutches like rabbits? if so, they're not that expensive to build and infinitely better than store bought cages. those things suck.

4/28/2007 12:47:03 PM

I used the same kind of cages as ^^^^ when I had my guinea pigs. It's *very* inexpensive and easy. It's really just the way to go. Here's a web page devoted to these kind of cages.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/cubes.htm

[Edited on April 28, 2007 at 12:49 PM. Reason : ^s]

4/28/2007 12:48:54 PM

Quote :

"go to walmart, and pick up a big storage rubbermaid container they run about 10 bucks, and you can get the clear ones. I liked to use those for my guys."

Quote :

"no, you can get rubbermaids that are about 11-12" + in height, so there's no way shavings can get out"

Quote :

"The giant tupperwares- are they ventilated enough for the little guys?"

the answer is no...plz don't listen to these idiots. it's apparent that they have never cared for a small animal. Get a wired cage that is well ventilated and change the shavings about once a week.

4/28/2007 1:38:27 PM

I got a dog crate for my rabbit - cost me about $60 I think. The floor slides out so you can clean it easily, and it's HUGE. Oh, and it collapses flat for traveling!

4/28/2007 2:27:56 PM

You can get a wired cage and find an underbed storage box to set it in that way you have a taller bottom but still plenty of ventilation. Another option is get a fish tank and screen lid.

4/28/2007 3:53:17 PM

I WANNA SEE PICS!!

4/28/2007 6:19:25 PM

years ago, i bought a big rabbit hutch. one that was about 3 ft high and 4.5 ft long. you need to make sure there is a lot of ventilation. to protect their feet i had plexiglass cut to lay on the bottom and pieces cut into strips about 8 inches high for the sides (prevent a mess). plus, i left the top off. if you have cats, keep the top on. try that. was not nearly expensive and they had lots of room.

[Edited on April 29, 2007 at 2:08 AM. Reason : ...]

4/29/2007 2:06:46 AM

I just saw on TV the other day. Apprently, guinea pigs are delicacy in South America.

4/29/2007 9:55:51 AM

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/guineapigs/tp/tpgpcagesites.htm

4/29/2007 10:04:17 AM

here's a couple pics of my cage

they are in my gallery...

[Edited on April 29, 2007 at 6:57 PM. Reason : damnit]

4/29/2007 6:55:58 PM

Thanks for all the advice. The little guys are doing great. I decided to get a bunch of HUGE tupperwares, (Keeping the tops open), and connect them with PVC pipes and make a guinea pig colony in my sunroom...(beats studying for finals) Here's a pic of my new kids..making my animal count to:

5 tree frogs
1 dwarf hamster
1 mouse
1 dachshund
2 bettas
8 mollies
1 chinchilla
2 guinea pigs

Suggestions for the short haired pigs name are appreciated.








[Edited on April 29, 2007 at 7:08 PM. Reason : blah...who knows]

4/29/2007 7:03:04 PM

Quote :

"dachshund"

They're bred to hunt small animals. This should be amusing.

4/29/2007 7:07:40 PM

She's the anti weiner dog. My chinchilla jumps on and off her head and she doesn't even look at him. She's old and way past her hunting days, unless it's some kibble.

4/29/2007 7:10:19 PM

just let it run free, see what happens.

4/29/2007 7:27:02 PM

4/29/2007 7:49:38 PM

do you have pics of your tree frogs? I love those things

4/29/2007 8:16:47 PM

Here are some cube sites. There are tons of them out there!!

http://www.bunnylu.com.futuresite.register.com/_wsn/page2.html

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/nic.html

http://www.guineapigcages.com/cubes.htm - lots of pictures and a forum

I saw in the paper Sunday that the cubes are on sale for 12.99 a box at Target. You will need 2 boxes for a 4x2x2 cage. The best place for the flooring is Southeastern Sign Supply http://www.sesignsupply.com/index.htm They are in Apex. The best thing to do is to go out there and look at the table of bent/marked up stuff that they can't sell to sign shops. If tell them you are making a rabbit/guinea pig cage and need coroplast they will know exactly what you need. I think they sell a lot of it to people building cages for all kinds of animals. If you get a full size sheet it is 8ft x 4ft so make sure you can get it home or you can have them cut it. Good luck!

4/29/2007 11:05:09 PM

Yeah, I saw a lot of those cube cages, and they look fun to make. I figure once the pigs are a little more adjusted and bigger I'll switch them out of the tupperware into something more suitable.

Thanks for all the great ideas!

4/30/2007 11:07:18 AM